Category Archives: Bloodyelbow.com

The impressive Brit will look to go 3-0 in the UFC.

Muhammad Mokaev is getting a quick turnaround. The undefeated Dagestani-born Brit has been booked to fight Malcolm Gordon at UFC 280 on October 22.

Mokaev was in the Octagon just two weeks ago, where he dominated Charles Johnson on route to a unanimous decision victory. That was Mokaev’s second win in the UFC. The youngster made his promotional debut in March, beating Cody Durden by first round submission.

Those two UFC wins advanced Mokaev’s pro record to 7-0. Prior to joining the UFC he was a main carder with the Bahrain-based outfit BRAVE CF.

Gordon is 14-5 on his career. The Canadian has won two UFC fights in a row: a verbal submission against Denys Bondar in February and a unanimous decision over Francisco Figueiredo last year.

Prior to those wins he lost by TKO to Sumudaerji.

Mokaev’s impressive Octagon performances have been overshadowed slightly by his war of words with Paddy Pimblett.

Recently Mokaev questioned the media’s focus on Pimblett, who is only behind Khamzat Chimaev as the most hyped prospect currently in the UFC.

Mokaev said Pimblett was not a good example to follow in British MMA and implored that people find other fighters to celebrate.

Mokaev and Pimblett’s spat goes back years. Before they both reached the UFC, Pimblett tweeted that he didn’t think Mokaev should not carry the British flag into his fights because he is an immigrant.

That’s not the only time Pimblett has been publicly anti-immigrant.

With Mokaev’s inclusion UFC 280 continues to grow in stature. Even before the hot prospect was booked the card was promising to be one of the stand-out events of the year.

The headline for UFC 280 is scheduled to feature Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev for the vacant UFC lightweight title. The co-main is scheduled to feature Aljamain Sterling defending his UFC bantamweight title against T.J. Dillashaw.

UFC 280 also boasts Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley, Beneil Dariush vs. Mateusz Gamrot and Belal Muhammad vs. Sean Brady.

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Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier stuck with a false narrative during the Julianna Pena vs. Amanda Nunes 2 matchup

There was a moment in the UFC 277 main event where the commentary narrative changed from the truthful and honest view that Amanda Nunes was dominating the fight to the fantasy version that Julianna Pena was seconds away from grabbing the win thanks to her dangerous guard game. That moment came in the early going of the fourth round of the UFC women’s bantamweight title fight.

Seconds after praising the performance of Nunes, who had knocked down Pena three times in the second round and was dominating the fight on the feet and on the mat, UFC commentator Daniel Cormier added, “Julianna Pena is showing very good herself.”

The instant those words left Cormier’s mouth, Nunes scored a takedown. Fifteen seconds had expired in the fourth stanza. From that point, the focus turned from Nunes’ domination to Pena’s perceived advantage in the grappling department.

That fact that Pena did have a legit armbar locked in with three minutes left in the fourth round seemed to embolden the commentary team for the rest of the fight. It didn’t matter that Nunes escaped the submission hold. After Pena applied the technique it seemed as if any offensive move she made while she was on her back was noted with effusive praise from the commentary team.

I’d liken what we heard from Cormier and his commentary partner Joe Rogan to an athlete or a corner that cannot make an adjustment during a fight even though they know they need to do so.

Cormier and Rogan — and to a lesser degree the third member of the commentary team, Jon Anik — became obsessed with what they saw as the dangerous guard of Pena from the opening moments of the fourth stanza and they could not be shaken from that belief. After that armbar, Pena registered zero additional submission attempts for the rest of the fight.

As the fight ticked down, Rogan offered, “You can’t count Julianna’s guard out. Here she is, 1:15 to go and she’s still throwing up armbars.” That wasn’t happening, but Rogan believed it was and his commentary reflected that belief.

The notion that the one submission attempt from Pena was equal to, as Cormier later said, “25” submission attempts was fantasy and it tainted the commentary. Cormier and Rogan were stuck unable to adjust to the reality of what was happening in the cage right in front of them.

I don’t think favoritism came into play during the Pena vs. Nunes 2 fight, but there might have been some “underdog bias” at work. By that I mean, Nunes was so dominant throughout the fight that the commentary team latched onto that small glimmer of hope from Pena and refused to let go, no matter the reality of the situation.

This is not the first time the UFC commentary team has stuck with an incorrect narrative of misrepresented how a fight was playing out.

Was the call from Cormier and Rogan as misleading — and wrong — as the call Rogan had of the UFC 223 bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Al Iaquinta where Rogan’s commentary (again. possible underdog bias?) forced him to apologize? No, but it wasn’t that far removed.

It was no surprise that Nunes swept all three of the scorecards for the unanimous decision win.

Fans should expect the commentary team to call the fights correctly. A little bias will creep into a call, that’s just the nature of the game, but to completely misrepresent the reality of what’s happening directly in front of your eyes? That should never be acceptable — and that’s what happened at UFC 277.

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Easily one of the worst broken noses in MMA history. 

It hardly seems controversial to say that Blake Perry suffered one of the worst broken noses in the history of mixed martial arts this past Sunday.

Perry fought in his second professional fight against Marcel McCain on A1 Combat 4 at Stockton Civic Auditorium in California. During an exchange in the first round, McCain wrapped Perry up in a clinch and delivered a brutal knee to the nose of his opponent. It was a shot hard enough to push the man’s nose from straight to curved—Perry was disfigured in an instant.

The welterweight fighter continued until the end of the first round, but by the time the doctors examined him there was practically no way he was going to make it out of his corner for the second round. Despite his best attempts to go on (!), the fight was waved off, and McCain was declared the winner by way of first-round TKO.

You can see the gag-inducing injury below, courtesy of UFC Fight Pass:

Warning: Videos below are graphic. Please proceed with caution.

Perry has since provided an update on his nose, which was reset shortly after the fight. And yes, we have a video of that, too (h/t Alex Behunin of Cageside Press). If you listen closely, you can hear it pop. Yikes.

“Unfortunately the doctor would not let me go out for the second round of my fight last night! All respect to my opponent Marcel on his hard fought victory,” wrote Perry on Instagram. Even though the fight was only 1 round we still brought home the fight of the night bonus.

“Thank you to everyone who has been checking in on me,” continued Perry. “I am healing up quick and already have a fight booked for this coming weekend……jk.”

The loss to McCain saw Perry fall to 1-1 as a professional. The 27-year-old previously fought under the Bellator MMA banner, where he earned a second-round submission win over Makoa Cooper at Bellator 278 this past April.

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Ladd tested positive for COVID-19.

Aspen Ladd’s quest to get her career back on track has hit a setback.

MMA Fighting reports that Ladd tested positive for COVID-19, nixing her matchup with former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Sara McMann from the UFC San Diego lineup on August 13th. The promotion is reportedly looking towards rescheduling the bout for UFC 279 in September, but that’s all just preliminary talk and nothing official.

Ladd (9-3) began her career 8-0 and seemingly on the road to a title shot at just 24 years old, but those hopes were dashed after a quick TKO loss to Germaine de Randamie in 2019. A third-round TKO win over Yana Kunitskaya followed soon after, but she missed all of 2020 (including a cancelled fight vs. McMann) with ACL and MCL tears. Since her return she’s suffered losses to Norma Dumont at featherweight and most recently Raquel Pennington at bantamweight.

McMann (13-6) is still going strong at 41 years old. The Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling unsuccessfully challenged for the UFC title against Ronda Rousey way back in 2014, but she remains ranked in the top-10 all these years later. Her last fight was a unanimous decision win over Karol Rosa at UFC Columbus.

UFC San Diego is headlined by a men’s bantamweight fight between former champion Dominick Cruz and rising Ecuadorian star Marlon Vera.

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Check out all the fights announced over the past week in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.

Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.

UFC 277 on Saturday was solid! Amanda Nunes dominated Julianna Peña to become a two-division champion again. Brandon Moreno earned the interim flyweight championship with a third-round TKO of Kai Kara-France and set up the first-ever tetralogy in UFC history against Deiveson Figueiredo. Sergei Pavlovich scored the biggest win of his professional career by dispatching Derrick Lewis inside of a minute. And Alexandre Pantoja and Magomed Ankalaev sent messages to their divisions with stoppages of Alex Perez and Anthony Smith. There were also some excellent finishes on the prelims, courtesy of Drew Dober, Michael Morales and Nicolae Negumereanu. With the event now over, we can look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule.

The UFC either announced or finalized nine fights this week, and a featherweight clash with ‘Fight of the Night’ potential is set for the fall.

Edson Barboza is not the ‘turn down a fight’ type, so it should come as no surprise to see the Brazilian accept one against yet another up-and-coming talent in the featherweight division. Laura Fernández Bynilla of Eurosport Spain reported that Barboza and Ilia Topuria are sharing the Octagon at an upcoming UFC Fight Night scheduled for Oct. 22 at the UFC APEX. No other fights are attached to the event at this time.

Barboza returns after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Bryce Mitchell at UFC 272 this past March. Since dropping from 155 pounds to 145 pounds, the 36-year-old is 2-3 in his past five appearances. On the other hand, Topuria is on a four-fight win streak under the UFC banner, with stoppages in all but one of his fights. Most recently, ‘El Matador’ moved up to lightweight and knocked out Jai Herbert at UFC London in March.

UFC San Diego — August 13

Ode’ Osbourne vs. Tyson Nam — flyweight
First rep. by Mike Heck of MMA Fighting

Cristian Quiñonez vs. Youssef Zalal — bantamweight
First rep. by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes

UFC 279 — September 10

Jake Collier vs. Chris Barnett — heavyweight
First rep. by ESPN

Hakeem Dawodu vs. Julian Erosa — featherweight
First rep. by Nolan King and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie

UFC Fight Night — September 17

Alen Amedovski vs. Joseph Pyfer — middleweight

UFC Fight Night — October 1

Julija Stoliarenko vs. Chelsea Chandler — women’s bantamweight

UFC Fight Night — October 15

Cub Swanson vs. Jonathan Martinez — bantamweight
First rep. by Meni Mayer of MMA Ideas

UFC 280 — October 22

Makhmud Muradov vs. Caio Borralho — middleweight

UFC Fight Night — October 29

Edson Barboza vs. Ilia Topuria — featherweight
First rep. by Laura Fernández Bynilla of Eurosport Spain

Announced Bellator fights:

Bellator 284 — August 12

Jordan Newman vs. Lance Wright — middleweight

Sullivan Cauley vs. Tyson Jeffries — light heavyweight
First rep. by Carter Eckl of Nevada Appeal

Josh Hill vs. Marcos Breno — bantamweight
First rep. by Guilherme Cruz and Mike Heck of MMA Fighting

Bellator Dublin — September 23

Asaël Adjoudj vs. Jordan Barton — featherweight

Bellator Milan — October 29

Alfie Davis vs. Thibault Gouti — lightweight
First rep. by Olivier Angelini of BoxeMag

Announced Professional Fighters League (PFL) fights:

PFL 8 (2022 Playoffs) — August 13

Denis Golstov vs. Matheus Scheffel — heavyweight

Announced Cage Warriors fights:

Cage Warriors 142 — August 13

Sam Creasey vs. Stipe Brčić — flyweight

Owain Williams vs. Sean McCormac — middleweight

Cage Warriors 145 — November 4

Jordan Vucenic vs. Paul Hughes — featherweight

Announced KSW fights:

KSW 73 — August 20

Borys Borkowski vs. Raimondas Krilavičius — welterweight

Karolina Owczarz vs. Natalia Baczyńska — women’s flyweight

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Pena was taken to a hospital after her UFC 277 defeat.

Julianna Pena’s reign as UFC women’s bantamweight champion may have been short-lived, but she certainly drew plenty of praise for going the distance in her one-sided defeat to Amanda Nunes at UFC 277.

Pena (11-5) survived several knockdowns, forehead-slicing elbows, and even a late submission attempt to make it the full 25 minutes in what was ultimately a 50-43, 50-44, and 50-45 unanimous decision loss. During that beating she also threw up several submission attempts, with a 4th round armbar looking the most threatening as she gamely searched for a miracle finish.

There was no post-fight interview for Pena, as she was immediately transported to a nearby hospital for further evaluation. In her first post-fight statement, Pena revealed some good news about the state of her forehead, as well as called for a trilogy.

“Tougher than a two dollar steak,” Pena wrote on Instagram. “Thanks for the love everyone! Just a cat scratch that required a few stitches, no chunks missing, no surgery necessary.

“Love you all! We’re 1-1 now. #peopleschamp #trilogy #penavsnunes3 #lfg”

Dana White had said in the post-fight press conference that Pena was seeing a plastic surgeon due to a “big chunk missing from her forehead,” but it looks as if it’s not so drastic that surgery is needed. Whether a trilogy will happen any time soon remains to be seen.

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Get a unique rundown of all the trophies that should have been handed out at UFC 277 with Dayne Fox’s Unofficial Awards.

In many ways, UFC 277 set the MMA world straight once again. Considered to be the women’s GOAT, Amanda Nunes regained the women’s bantamweight title, avenging her shocking loss to Julianna Pena from last winter in absolutely brutal fashion. Nunes beat Pena from pillar to post in every aspect of the fight. The standup. The wrestling. The grappling. You name it, Nunes was superior. Some may argue Pena was the better grappler given she threw up submission attempt after submission attempt, but Nunes easily avoided the majority of those efforts and even had the closest successful submission attempt when she had a deep RNC late in the fight. Making more right with the MMA world was Brandon Moreno getting Deiveson Figueiredo to agree to a fourth fight between the two, settling their rivalry once and for all. Of course, it took him winning the interim flyweight title to do – did we really need to create that? — but all feels right with that. Of course, those are only the biggest stories to come out of an impactful event. Let’s get to the rest of the important happenings with my Unofficial Awards….

For a different perspective, click here. For an audio recap of the event, click here.

Biggest Jump in Stock: It came down to Alexandre Pantoja and Sergei Pavlovich. Ultimately, I had to go with Pavlovich given he was lesser known of the two, entering the fight with Derrick Lewis as a largely unknown product amongst the majority of viewers. Those in the know knew Pavlovich had the power to put Lewis away if the opportunity presented itself, but doing it and knowing he can do it are two different things. Now, with four straight first round KO’s, it’s hard to ignore the current run that he’s on. Securing the most recent win over not just an established name in Lewis, but a massive fan favorite, is a big feather in his cap.

Biggest Fall in Stock: Lewis received a little bit of consideration, but not a lot. It has to be Alex Perez. Perez’s 6-3 record within the UFC is more than respectable. The problem is, only one of those six wins came over an opponent who left the UFC with a winning UFC record. Hell, none of the guys he has a win over are on the roster anymore. Every time he’s had an opportunity against one of the top contenders in the division, Perez has not only fallen short, he’s been finished in the first round every time. Perez is probably going to need a lengthy win streak before he gets another crack at the best the division has to offer again.

Best Newcomer: Hamdy Abdelwahad was the only one of the three newcomers who found success in their debuts, but credit goes to Abdelwahad for also making it a memorable debut. It seemed like a long shot anyone would remember it given Don’tale Mayes hasn’t exactly been a memorable fighter, but the two big boys threw down for one of the more entertaining scraps of the evening. Abdelwahad proved he can not only throw with power, but he can take a hell of a shot too. Plus, his wrestling made an appearance as well. There’s plenty of polish that can be applied to the Egyptian, but there’s more than enough talent to work with for him to be worth keeping an eye on.

Saved Their Job(s): Given he missed weight, I have no doubt Orion Cosce needed the win to keep his job with the organization. It wasn’t the cleanest performance – I expected him to be more dominant on the mat than what he was – but it was enough for him to secure a win over Blood Diamond. I’m still wary about his UFC future – unless he gets another low-level opponent like Diamond, I struggle so see Cosce picking up another win – but at the very least, he’ll get the opportunity to prove me wrong.

Start Typing a Resume: It’s plausible the weight miss from Joselyne Edwards will give Ji Yeon Kim one more opportunity to prove she belongs in the UFC. Not only was the weight miss a factor, but Kim being willing to move up a weight class so she could stay on the card was a real gamer move. But four losses in a row is an ugly number, especially when they aren’t all against top competition. Kim’s always fun to watch, but results have to follow… unless you’re Sam Alvey.

I wasn’t a fan of the UFC signing Diamond in the first place. With just three wins against a low level of competition, Diamond didn’t look like he was ready for the UFC in the least. I understand he has a kickboxing background, but it’s not like he was an established kickboxing champion in the vein of Alex Pereira. Diamond has potential, but more seasoning was needed before he made the jump. Rather than give him a third fight, I’d rather see the UFC cut him loose and give him an opportunity to gain more experience.

Biggest WOW Moment: There were a LOT of moments that had me wanting to leap out of my seat. Lewis faceplanting. Rafael Alves dancing in the middle of his fight with Drew Dober. Moreno’s liver kick to Kara-France. However, I’m going with the third knockdown Nunes delivered to Pena. I’ll admit it wasn’t the most visually appealing of all three of them, but given all the knockdowns came in the same round, it just cemented how much better Nunes was than Pena on the feet. One knockdown can happen by chance. Two knockdowns is hard to argue against with regards to who the better striker is. Three knockdowns are impossible. In other words, we know for a fact the first fight was a fluke at this point. The sequence also proved how tough Pena is. She was quickly in a position of defense after hitting the mat once again, refusing to give in when 99.99% of the world would accept they weren’t going to win at that point. It’s rare both dominance and toughness are solidified so strongly in a single moment.

Never Seen That Before: There’s a good chance somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind that I’ve seen a double spinning back fist before, but it isn’t coming to mind. To open the card, Cosce and Diamond did just that towards the end of the second round. Diamond appeared to get the better of the exchange as Cosce stumbled halfway across the cage, but the sequence also gave Cosce enough distance that he had the time to regain his composure. Even if it didn’t produce the highlight result, it was still a hell of a visual sequence.

Can’t Catch a Break: For Anthony Smith, it turned out to be good news he didn’t catch a break. The former title challenger thought he broke his leg in the midst of his fight with Magomed Ankalaev. That wasn’t the case, but he did jack up his leg badly enough that it took him out of the fight, eventually leading to his downfall. However, it also took away the opportunity for Ankalaev to secure a highlight reel moment that would have been so beneficial for him in his quest to secure a title shot. Yes, he got a stoppage, but it was about as anticlimactic as a stoppage gets. Obviously, there’s no guarantee Ankalaev would have picked up that moment, but I get the feeling he would have rather not have Smith suffer the injury and be allowed the opportunity to deliver a more impactful finish to the fight. After all, he was firmly in control even before Smith’s injury occurred.

Most Fan-Friendly Division: MMA fans have long lamented the lack of love the flyweight division has received from the UFC brass. For whatever reason, the UFC couldn’t figure out how to promote Demetrious Johnson properly to make one of the most dominant champions the sport has ever seen a star. When they couldn’t get that to fly, they wanted to eliminate the division, cutting away at nearly the entirety of the division – including Brandon Moreno — before finally being convinced otherwise. Even when they decided not to get rid of the division, they would continue to look at the division as an afterthought. Remember when the UFC put a heavyweight contest between Chase Sherman and Jake Collier as the co-main event ahead of top ten flyweights Brandon Royval and Rogerio Bontorin? That was just in January. Well, the UFC has finally been showing the division some love and they’re being rewarded. Pantoja, Moreno, and Kara-France nabbed three of the four Performance bonuses from the event. It wasn’t like it was a fluke either. It was Pantoja’s fourth performance in his last six appearances, the fourth in a row for Moreno, and fourth in the last five for Kara-France. Here’s hoping the love the UFC is showing the division isn’t an aberration; the division has routinely been the most fan-friendly in the organization.

Most Controversial Stoppage: A lot of people – including Uncle Dana – weren’t happy with the stoppage of the Pavlovich-Lewis fight. Lewis did pop right up immediately after the referee pulled Pavlovich off him after all. However, I’m of the opinion it was justified. Lewis fell headfirst to the mat after Pavlovich unloaded a lethal flurry of punches on the big man. Plus, Pavlovich was still landing punches when Dan Miragliotta stepped in. Given the dangers we all acknowledge come with the sport, I would think it is uncontroversial to say I’d rather see the referee’s jump in a little bit early as opposed to a little bit late. That isn’t to say I don’t understand the argument, but given all the angles in which the stoppage was shown, I’m willing to give Miragliotta the leeway many others don’t want to.

Best Underdog: In six out of his eleven UFC victories, Alex Morono entered the contest as the betting underdog. You’d think we’d all learn our lesson, but MMA prognosticators can be stubborn about their reads. Morono isn’t a great athlete, doesn’t hit with an exceptional amount of power, and rarely wrestles. And yet, he continues to find a way to outwork opponents who are better athletes, tend to hit harder, and have a better history of dictating where the fight takes place. That was the case with Matt Semelsberger… and Morono walked out with another win. Morono knows what the judges are looking for and he knows the holes in his opponent’s defenses. Perhaps someday myself and my fellow prognosticators will learn. Then again, perhaps not….

Most Disrespected: You’d think three consecutive wins in the UFC would keep a fighter from welcoming a newcomer to the organization. Sure, injuries happen and a short-notice opponent gets the call, but I’m talking about when that’s the scheduled fight from the very beginning. That was the case with Nicolae Negumereanu. I’m not saying Negumereanu beat a bunch of world-beaters coming into his fight with Ihor Potieria, but they were good enough to be on the UFC roster. If Potieria were some hyped signing, it would make some sense, but he was a standard DWCS signing. Negumereanu just bowled over him. With four consecutive wins – the second longest winning streak in the division – perhaps the UFC will begin to show Negumereanu some respect and give him a step up in competition.

Most Gnarly Injury: The gash in Pena’s forehead was something else. I have no doubt about her needing some cosmetic surgery for it as Uncle Dana stated. Perhaps the leg injury suffered by Smith deserves some consideration. However, the manner in which the human eye can swell shut always amazes me. Thus, I have to go with Semelsberger having his left eye completely swollen shut. Credit to him as he continued to fight and even came thisclose to winning with a flying knee. At the very least, he’ll always have that visual associated with him at this point. After all, can anyone think of Marvin Eastman without remembering the gash Vitor Belfort opened on him? I won’t say won’t Joe Rogan thought it looked like, but we’ll just say it was one of the more colorful descriptions I’ve ever heard….

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Check out the fight card and bout order for UFC Vegas 59.

The UFC is back in the APEX in Las Vegas for an August 6th card that doubles as the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter. In the main event, light heavyweight contender Jamahal Hill takes on former title challenger Thiago Santos in another big test for Hill, while welterweight action fighters Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal face off in the co-main.

As for the TUF finals, Mohammed Usman, brother of UFC welterweight champion Kamaru, will look to win the heavyweight tournament against Zac Pauga. In the women’s flyweight bracket, Brogan Walker-Sanchez takes on Juliana Miller. Of the four finalists, only Walker-Sanchez made it through from Team Julianna Pena, so it’s possible the former champ will end up not getting a TUF champ either.

Here’s the full lineup for UFC Vegas 59, and yeah Sam Alvey is on the card. Will this be the time he gets a win?

Main Card (10 PM ET, ESPN/ESPN+)

Thiago Santos vs. Jamahal Hill

Vicente Luque vs. Geoff Neal

Zac Pauga vs. Mohammed Usman

Brogan Walker-Sanchez vs. Juliana Miller

Augusto Sakai vs. Sergey Spivak

Ariane Lipski vs. Priscila Cachoeira

Preliminary Card (7 PM ET, ESPN/ESPN+)

Sam Alvey vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk

Takashi Sato vs. Bryan Battle

Terrance McKinney vs. Erick Gonzalez

Jason Witt vs. Josh Quinlan

Miranda Granger vs. Cory McKenna

Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Stephanie Egger

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All the best, most interesting, and unquestionably coolest fights the UFC needs to book following their latest event in Dallas, TX.

All things considered, UFC 277 was a really fun PPV event. Amanda Nunes returned to her double-champ status in dominating form, Brandon Moreno left absolutely no doubt about who the next flyweight title contender would be, and Alexandre Pantoja staked his own claim to a future shot at gold.

So, is there a good argument for a Peña/Nunes trilogy bout? Should the UFC consider running Derrick Lewis vs. Sergei Pavlovich back? And did Magomed Ankalaev do enough to put him at the front of the light heavyweight contender’s list?

To answer those questions—and lots more—I’ll be using the classic Silva/Shelby fight booking methodology from the UFC of years past. That means pitting winners against winners, losers against losers, and similarly tenured talent up against one another. Hopefully, by following that model, a few of these bout ideas will actually make it off the page and into the Octagon. Now, let’s get to the fights!

AMANDA NUNES

For one brief shining moment in time, the UFC had a clear answer as to just what the hell to do with Amanda Nunes in the midst of her extended run of bantamweight dominance. She had finally run up against a challenger that could push her to her physical limits, and even break her. In the wake of UFC 277, however, we’re back to asking a lot of the same old questions. Is it time to finally run back Valentina Shevchenko vs. Amanda Nunes again… again? Or does Julianna Pena deserve an instant rematch, despite being utterly dominated for just about every minute of a five round fight? Has Ketlen Vieira done enough to earn herself a title shot? Would a win over Macy Chiasson be enough to get Irene Aldana in the hunt?

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, because I never thought I’d find reason to say it, but it might just finally be time to book Shevchenko vs. Nunes 3. The second fight was abysmal, but Nunes has been through enough tribulations lately to feel more beatable than ever, and Shevchenko isn’t exactly facing any upcoming challengers that have fans clamoring. Shevchenko vs. Nunes 3 is worth booking while both women are still champions.

JULIANNA PEÑA

If the possibility was lingering, out in the ether, that Julianna Peña might just be too tough and determined for Amanda Nunes to handle after their first meeting, then it also has to be recognized that there was a distinct chance that Nunes might also be way too good for Peña to beat twice. Technical craft has never been the backbone of the ‘Venezuela Vixen’’s success, and a more composed, better prepared Nunes was able to exploit that fact for an absolutely crushing 25 minutes. To Peña’s credit, she never gave up, even for a second. And her dogged toughness and aggression gave the fight a strange precariousness, where it felt like the now-former bantamweight champ could swing the whole thing her way—given just the right punch or submission threat. But that never came, and instead Peña simply got trounced.

That leaves me a lot less interested in the idea of a trilogy, even though I could absolutely see the UFC booking one. Instead, Holly Holm is coming off a pretty disappointing loss that had her really riled up about judging. And she’s still one of the division’s most notable athletes. The ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ seems like a great fight to see if the 32-year-old can make a quick return to the title and keep her place among the bantamweight elite. Julianna Pena vs. Holly Holm looks like a top quality bounce back booking.

BRANDON MORENO

A very, very controlled performance for Brandon Moreno. He picked his spots early, working behind his jab, did a solid job pressuring and landing over Kara-France’s low kicks, and then even battled through some adversity to rally for the stoppage win. As a result, there’s only one fight left to make and it’s a fourth bout against Deiveson Figueiredo. The Brazilian was cageside to see this interim title bout, and after the fight the two men met in the cage and agreed to a possible showdown in December, in Brazil. Is that PPV card actually on the UFC schedule? I have no idea. But if it is, and if both men can continue the kind of shared drive and passion they showed in the cage Saturday, getting that quadrilogy booked shouldn’t be a problem. Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo 4 is the flyweight title fight to make, no question.

KAI KARA-FRANCE

Kai Kara-France made the climb to the top of the mountain, and unfortunately found Brandon Moreno standing at the top, waiting to kick him right back down. To his credit, rather than slowing down as the fight went on (as many suspected might happen) the third round seemed to be Kara-France’s best—right up to the moment that it wasn’t, at least. Fortunately, there are more fighters looking to rise up the ranks at flyweight. Plenty of bouts for the City Kickboxing talent to use to reassert his spot as a top contender. Alex Perez lost earlier in the night, he could make a decent next option. Or there’s fights with Matt Schnell, Matheus Nicolau or a rematch with Brandon Royval as well. I especially like the idea of running back that Royval fight. ‘Raw Dawg’ is never boring business inside the Octagon, Royval vs. Kara-France 2 would be an absolute thriller.

SERGEI PAVLOVICH

Can’t blame Sergei Pavlovich for the quick finish in this one. He put serious hands on Derrick Lewis and had him in all kinds of trouble from the jump. If the ref stepped in before Lewis was out, that doesn’t change anything about the punches the Russian was landing leading up to that moment. The result pushes Pavlovich right into the midst of an already overcrowded heavyweight title picture. It’s not at all clear when any of the top contenders of this division are going to be competing again, and until they do, guys like him are just going to have to find ways to tread water.

Fights with Alexander Volkov, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, or Curtis Blaydes would all be fine options. Assuming there’s no training/friendship complications getting in the way, I’d say the Volkov fight is the clear first option. A fight with Blaydes is great if Pavlovich can get it, but Blaydes should probably be waiting to see if he can get a clear title eliminator bout, and Pavlovich isn’t necessarily that. Pavlovich vs. Volkov seems like a good way for both men to stay in the conversation of the heavyweight elite.

ALEXANDRE PANTOJA

Alexandre Pantoja was a man on a mission at UFC 277. He walked straight into the teeth of Alex Perez’s offense off the opening bell, set the tone with some winging, wild power shots, then forced a scramble to back take, straight into a face crank submission. A brilliant performance for the Brazilian and a rough return to action for Perez. After the bout, Pantoja was unequivocal in his demands for a flyweight title shot. Unfortunately for him, however, the interim title on the line in the co-main more or less guaranteed the next challenger—and it won’t be Pantoja (despite the fact that he’s beat both Moreno and Kara-France before).

Considering all that, and considering Figueiredo’s injury and possible bantamweight desires, that still likely means that waiting is the best option Pantoja has. He has a clear reason to claim a fight with anyone holding gold at the end of the year. If, for some reason he doesn’t want to wait—and assuming Figueiredo returns soon—then the only other option is a bout against Askar Askarov. At that point, Pantoja should just sit tight for his chance at gold.

MAGOMED ANKALAEV

It may not have been exactly the kind of thrilling performance people keep hoping to see Ankalaev develop his game into, but his patient, technical approach was just the right thing for Anthony Smith to break himself against with a checked low kick. That pushed Ankalaev on to the TKO victory, and the seeming position of no. 1 contender. Unfortunately for him, Jiri Prochazka wants to fight Jan Blachowicz, and there’s a lot of talk about a Glover Teixeira rematch for the belt as well. And that could mean a whole lot of time between fights if Ankalaev won’t take other fights.

I’m gonna go ahead and assume that an Ankalaev title shot isn’t the top priority for the UFC, and that the Dagestani will need to get in the Octagon at least once more. If Rakic wasn’t recovering from a knee injury, that’d be an obvious booking. Instead, if the UFC really is going to do a rematch for Teixeira, I’ll say book Ankalaev vs. Blachowicz. If it’s a Blachowicz title shot instead, go with Ankalaev/Texieira. But, Magomed Ankalaev vs. Jan Blachowicz is exactly the kind of bout to make a no. 1 contender.

DREW DOBER

There may still be gaps in Dober’s takedown defense, submission defense, and punching defense, but Drew Dober has used his time in the UFC to mold himself into one of the promotion’s most absolutely thrilling action talents. Rafael Alves looked like he had all the answers in round 1 behind his blinding speed, serious power, and even a nifty trip takedown. Dober weathered the storm, kept the pressure high and started breaking down Alves’ body on the way to a one punch liver shot KO in round 3. A beautiful win for the Elevation Fight Team product.

Given Dober’s self stated predilection for only choosing exciting action fights, bouts with Jim Miller, Michael Johnson, Renato Moicano, or Jalin Turner would all be solid options. Turner is making some serious waves at 155 right now, and is always a thrill to watch, how about Turner vs. Dober just to see if Dober can find a way into the rankings?

MICHAEL MORALES

It wasn’t the easiest bout of Morales’ career, but ultimately he came away with exactly the kind of win fans would hope to see from a great prospect against an opponent with just a few days notice. Fugitt has a crafty, broken rhythm, kick-heavy game and—coupled with a couple takedowns—it gave Morales some serious trouble. But, Morales found his power strikes in every round and made Fugitt pay for his willingness to keep the fight standing, to the tune of a 3rd round TKO. That should leave the 23-year-old poised for a solid step up next time. Bookings against Jack Della Maddalena, Mounir Lazzez, or even Mike Mallott would all be fun thrillers. But I like the idea of giving Morales someone with some solid experience to test his consistency. Sergey Khandozhko may not have a big name in the UFC, but he’s an extremely battle-tested veteran with a rock solid striking game. Morales vs. Khandozhko feels like just the kind of tough fight Morales needs next.

OTHER BOUTS: Derrick Lewis vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Alex Perez vs. Askar Aksarov, Anthony Smith vs. Paul Craig, Alex Morono vs. Jake Matthews, Matthew Semelsberger vs. Gabriel Green, Rafael Alves vs. Mike Davis, Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Jarjis Danho, Don’Tale Mayes vs. Parker Porter, Drakkar Klose vs. Thiago Moises, Rafa Garcia vs. Omar Morales, Adam Fugitt vs. Yohan Lainesse, Joselyne Edwards vs. Julia Avila, Ji Yeon Kim vs. Jessy-Rose Clark, Nicolae Negumereanu vs. Alonzo Menifield, Ihor Potieria vs. Mingyang Zhang, Orion Cosce vs. Rinat Fakhretdinov, Mike Diamond vs. Pete Rodriguez

Bloody Elbow – All Posts

UFC president Dana White gives his take on the sudden cancellation of the Jake Paul-Hasim Rahman Jr. fight.

After a brief build-up, the Jake Paul-Hasim Rahman Jr. boxing match is now off the table. In a recent statement by Paul’s promotion Most Valuable Promotions, Rahman supposedly refused to comply with the agreed 200-pound limit for the August 6th event.

“On Friday, Rahman submitted a weight check to the New York State Athletic Commission that demonstrated he had lost less than one pound since originally signing to take the fight 24 days prior,” an excerpt from MVP’s statement reads.

“This prompted the commission to declare that it would not sanction the fight at less than 205 pounds. Still, Jake Paul was prepared to move forward with the fight at this new weight and a new contract was sent to Rahman’s promoter reflecting a 205-pound limit, imposing strict penalties should he fail to make weight.

“Upon receiving this new contract Saturday morning, Rahman’s camp indicated for the very first time that he planned to weigh 215 pounds at the official weigh-in and would not agree to weigh in at 205 pounds and informing Most Valuable Promotions that they are pulling out of the fight unless the fight was agreed to at 215 pounds.”

It was during these frustrating moments when Paul and MVP decided to cancel the event. But UFC president Dana White has his own theories, which he shared to the media at the UFC 277 media scrum.

“I think they sold under a million dollars in tickets and it cost $ 500,000 to turn the f—ng lights on at MSG,” he told reporters. “That’s what I think. Not to mention the fact that hotel rooms in New York and transportation and everything else is very expensive.”

White said he didn’t want to gloat, given his strained relations with Paul. But he was gentler this time around.

“I will say this: just because you’re an accountant here, doesn’t mean you know what the f—k goes on here, and doesn’t mean you can run a fight promotion company,” he said.

“I think that Jake Paul probably needs to get some different people around him. If he’s gonna stay in this sport, he needs to be with guys that actually really know how to put on fights.”

Paul vs. Rahman Jr. was supposed to happen at Madison Square Garden.

Bloody Elbow – All Posts